Beaver Falls, PA – Heart break struck in Metheny Saturday (Dec. 10) afternoon. After two stunning buzzer beaters, Thiel handed Geneva a double overtime loss of 79-76. The loss hands Geneva its first loss in the Presidents’ Athletic Conference (PAC) tallying a 5-3 overall record, 2-1 in the PAC.
Jimmy Leichliter (Connellsville, PA/ Connellsville) welcomed the Thiel Tomcats with a good three-pointer. The Golden Tornadoes kept a tight lead on the Tomcats for the first ten minutes. After the first lead change of the game, down 14-12, Leichliter’s good-three pointer retook lead for Geneva 15-14 at 9 min left in first.
Tied 28-28 with 2:27 remaining in the first half, Thiel’s pair of good free throws handed the Golden Tornadoes a 30-28 deficit at the half.
Both sides of the court were frustrated in the locker room. Thiel managed a 32 shooting percentage while Geneva shot only 21 percent from the field.
Geneva opened the second half of play with a six-point run. No other three basket run would be earned by either team as the back and forth action continued.
Senior guard Chaese Vaudrin’s (Uniontown, OH/Lake) good jumper appeared to seal the win with .5 seconds left at 62-60. Thiel disappointed the early celebrations with a quick bucket forcing the overtime period.
Leichliter struck again with his sixth three for the Geneva 71-70 advantage with 13.8 seconds remaining.
Vaudrin reached his 1,000 point career mark in what appeared for a second time to be the game-winning layup, 73-70. Thiel’s Tyreik Burton last ditch effort beat the buzzer stunning everyone from just over half court forcing the second overtime period.
Tyler Crenshaw (Moon Twp, PA/Moon/Mt. Aloysius) led Geneva’s defensive efforts, earning eight offensive and eight defensive rebounds.
The Golden Tornadoes return to the court on Thursday, December 29 at the Wittenberg Tournament with a 7pm tipoff.